Finding Sources
The database, Credo Reference, is an encylopedia of informative articles on a large variety of subjects. Basically like an academic version of Wikipedia! Credo can be really helpful when you are exploring a topic or trying to come up with keywords. However, just like Wikipedia, Credo is typically not a source or database that you can cite from. Although Credo is providing you with scholarly information, it would not be considered peer-reviewed. You would need to find articles that are peer-reviewed in one of our library databases. To find a list of those databases, visit the "Databases at UD" tab.
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Articles from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference books. Covers all major academic areas. An excellent place to start when learning the basics of any topic. Will help focus your topic, find keywords and people, and discover more in-depth books and articles. Images, audio and video files are included.
Basic Search Tips
- Place quotation marks around keyword phrases
"trench warfare"
"Haitian Revolution"
- Capitalize Boolean logic connectors (AND, OR).
Bay of Pigs Invasion OR Invasion of Cuba
"American Involvement" AND World War I
- Items at UD appear first in the list of search results. Other items can be requested via interlibrary loan.
- Use the limiters on the left-hand side of your results page to change the language of the material.
Primary Source Search Tips:
Finding primary sources is a multi-step process. There is no "one-stop-shop" database that will give you everything you need for your paper. Follow these tips:
- Look at the bibliographies and footnotes from articles and books to see what primary sources those scholars are using for evidence
- Think and research multiple institutions, archives, or repositories that could have information and collections about your project
- Use historical language
- Keep it simple. Use broad keywords to find sources
When searching for primary source collections online, include the following additional phrases with your first key words:
- online collections
- digital collections
- digitized collections
- historical collections
Be aware that digital collections only show a small portion of what an institution holds!
- Academic OneFile This link opens in a new window
A premier source for peer-reviewed, full-text articles from scholarly journals and other authoritative sources. Also includes thousands of podcasts and transcripts from NPR and CNN, as well as videos from BBC Worldwide Learning. (Coverage: 1980 --)
- Archives of Latin America and Caribbean History 16th-20th Century This link opens in a new window
A multidisciplinary database that includes a comprehensive range of content for the region, both for current issues and events in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as for historical perspective back to the colonial period. (Coverage: 15th -20th c.)
- Informe Academico This link opens in a new window
Provides a wide range of full-text Spanish and Portuguese language scholarly journals and magazines, both from and about Latin America. (Coverage: varies by title, generally from the mid-1990s to the present)
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Provides access to many millions of journal articles, books, images, and primary sources in 75 disciplines.
Artstor images incorporated into JSTOR as of 8/1/2024.
- Latin American Newspapers, Series I This link opens in a new window
Explore Latin American history and culture during the 19th and early 20th centuries via 35 Latin American newspapers. Features titles from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, and elsewhere. (Coverage: 1805-1922)
- Online Primary Sources - NC StateLarge list of primary sources.
- Digital Archive of Latin American and Caribbean EphemeraThe Digital Archive of Latin American and Caribbean Ephemera is a steadily growing repository containing a previously unavailable subset of Princeton’s Latin American Ephemera Collection as well as newly acquired materials being digitized and added on an ongoing basis.